In the Line of Fire: How to Handle Tough Questions—When It Counts, Second Edition

Chapter 11. Lessons Not Learned

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

George Santayana (1863–1952) [11.1]

Reaction Shots

You’ll recall how, in the landmark 1960 presidential debate between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy, reaction shots of Nixon and his darting eyes made him appear nervous and fretful—not presidential—and that the lessons learned from that debate set into place a virtual instruction manual that candidates have aggregated and followed ever since—until 2000, when Al Gore debated George W. Bush.

You’ll also recall from the previous chapter how contentious Gore was in his first debate with Bush, using aggressive words like wrong, not, differences, mistake, and opposite. He compounded that negativity by ...